Automatic shade roller



Dec. 31, 1929 r A. R. MITCHELL AUTOMATICy SHADE RLLER Filed Nov. 91""'192 INVENTOR. f1@ @Mmmm 1 ATTORNEY.'

Dec. 31,-1929.

A. R, MITCHELL- AUTMAT I C vSHDE ROLLER Filed Nov,y 9. 192e 2 sheets-sheet 2 l INVENTOR. f1@ Q. Mitebau.

atentcd Dec. 3l.- 1929 PATENT OFFICE ALGIE E. MITCHELL, F FORT THOMAS, KENTUCKY AUTOMATIC SHADE ROLLER Application 'led November My invention relates to Vautomatic shade rollers for automobiles and more particular,-

ly to shade' rollers wherein the rolling or v winding of the shade upon the roller is effected by the use of Vsuction from the intake manifold of 4an' internal combustion. engine, and which suction can be `controlled from a suitable valve placed on the instrument board or like convenient place.

The objects of m invention are to provide an automatic sha e roller for automobiles which will be simple, .eihcienu economical to manufacture and' easilyinstalled or made a permanent part of automobiles and likeconwveyances.

' A further object of my invention Lis to provide a .shade rollerfonautomobiles Which is operated by suction, piped from the intake manifold and which can be easily controlled 0 'from the operators seat.

`A still further object' of my invention is to provide an automatic shade roller for automobilesoperatedby suction from the intake manifold of an internal combustion motor,

2;, and means for' controlling the raisin and lowering of said shade to any desiredajust ed position, and ,means for retaining said shade or curtainifn' said desired adjusted position.

The invention consists in providing an automatic shade roller for automobiles wherein the roller is rotatably mounted upon means supported by a fixed shaft, which shaft .is rigidly supported to said automobile and provided with a grooved thread of great pitch,l

in vwhich internal teeth of a plunger are engaged, said plungeradapted to thus rotatel on the shaft, and means whereby' said plunger is prevented from rotating within said roller i 4 0 but adapted to have a reciprocating movement therein.

- The invention further consists in the con-A struction, combination, location and arrangement o'f parts, as -will be hereinafter more fully explained and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

lFig. 41 is a longitudinal vertical section of my improved shade roller, showing the construction of the several parts, the grooved shaft appearingin elevation and the tubes o; 1926.*.seria1 No'. 147,280.

leading to the suction control valve broken away; l

F1g. 2 is an enlarged vertical cross-section taken on a plane'corresponding to line 2 2 ofFig.1;m` i 'F11-fig. 3 is an enlarged end elevation of 1g.1; Fig. 4 is an enlarged longitudinal verti cal section ofthe grooved shaft;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged end elevation of the reciprocating plunger Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic View showing the roller, roller brackets2 shadesuction control valve, and tubes leading from said Valve to saidroller, parts being broken away;

Fig. 7 is a horizontal cross-section taken on aplan'e corresponding to line T4-7 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is an isometric view of one of the roller brackets partly shown in section;

Fig. 9 is an isometric view of one' of the journals, partly shown in section;

Fig. 10 is an isometric 'view of one end of the roller, partly shownin section; y

Fig. 11 is a horizontal cross-section of the 'suction' controlvalve taken on a plane 4corresponding to line 11e-T11 of Fig. 6;

.Fig;V 12 is a cross-section' takenon line 12-12 of Fig. 14;

Fig. 13 is an inside elevationalV View of the suction valve cover; and

Fig. 14 is a similar view of the valve body.

y In the embodiment of my invention as illustr'ated and which shows la preferred con'- struction7 I provide an automatic shade-roller for automobiles which comprises roller 1, Shade 2 and suction-control-valve 3. i

The roller 1 in detail comprises cylinder 4 which is preferably made of metal tubing. End pieces 5 and 6, respectively, tightly lit within the ends 4a vand 4b of said cylinder (see-Fig.' l). Shaft 7 has its ends 8 and 9 reduced in diameter and provided with ,threads lO'and 11, respectively. Saidshaft isalso provided in its outer periphery and throughout its length with a helical grooved thread 12 of great pitch, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 4. y y

. Journals 13 and 14, respectively, are adapted to snugly lit over` the ends A8 and 9 of shaft 7 and are provided with extended lugs or sto s on their inner ends, as clearly shown in ig. 9, for purposes more fully explained hereinafter, under operation.

Holes 16 and 17, respectively, centrally located in ends 5 and 6 are reduced in diameter at their inner ends and terminate in beveled edge 18,-as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 10. Journals 13 and 14, respectively, are enlarged in diameter at their inner ends to form beveled surfaces 19, said beveled surface 19 engaging beveled edge 18 of ends 5 and 6, respectively as explained later on.

The roller brackets 20 and 21, respectively, comprise base 22 provided with holes 23 for receiving screws or bolts 24 (Fig. 6). The outer ends of said brackets are each provided with hole 25 with which hole 26 connects. Most of the inner portion of hole 25 is cut away to form recess 27, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 8. Short sleeves 28 and 29,` respectively, are received by holes 26 of roller brackets 20 and 21, which sleeves connect tubes 30 and 31 with said brackets and suction control valve 3.

Shaft 7 having its ends 8 and v9 reduced in diameter forms shoulders 32 and 33. Nuts 34'4 and `35, respectively, are received by threads 10 and 11 of reduced ends 8 and 9 of shaft 7 (see'sectional view, Fig. 1). Y

The outer peripher 36 of piston 37 is of a size just suflcient to s idably fit within cylin der 4, and is provided with groove 38, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. Saidgroove 38 is provided in piston 37 to slidably receive elongated bead orfrib 39 formed in cylinder 4, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

As the cylinder 4 is preferably madeof metal tubing and the shade -^2of cloth or similar material, I fasten the inner'hemmed end 40 of said shade to said cylinder 4 by passing wire rod 41 through said hemmed end, which rod lays within elongated grooved bead 39, as clearly shown in the sectional view, Fig. 2.

When the Wire rod 41 is thus passed through the hemmed or looped end 40 of shade 2 and placed within elongated groove of bead or rib 39, I securely fasten the rod and cylinder together as by placing a drop ortwo of solder 42 at each end of the said rod.

The ends of shaft 7 are provided with longitudinally extending holes `43 and 44 and transverse holes 45, 46, 47 and 48, respectively. Said holes 45 and 48 are located adjacent recesses 27 in roller brackets 20 and 21,.

respectively, and connect with holes 43 land 44. Holes 46 and 47 are located adjacent'recesses 49, respectively, formed in journals 13-14 by lugs 15 and also connect with holes 43 and 44, respectively.

'Roundheaded screws 50, screwed into central openings 51 of piston 37, form the teeth which engage or operate Within helical l grooved thread 12 of shaft 7 Piston 37 is also provided with packing recess 52 on its outer periphery and packing stituted in its place, but for the purpose of describingy the operation ofthe automatic shade roller, I have shown a preferred construction wherein the valve comprises ,body 55, rotary cover 56 and hand operating knob 57. Bosses 58, 59 and 60, formed integral with the back of body 55 are provided with threaded openings 58, 59 and v60', respectively, which openings receive Unions 61 connect one end of' unions 61. tubes 30, 31 and 62,'respectively, with suction-control valve 3. The other. end of tubes 30 and 31 are connected with short sleeves 28 and 29, respectively (see Fig. 1) and the other end of tubev 62 is connected to the intake manifold of an internal combustion motor (not shown).

Operation- The operation of my invention is as follows:

Assume that roller 1 has been installed in an automobile, as by screws 24 passing through holes 23 in roller 4brackets 20 and 21, respectively; -thatr suction-control-valve 3 is suitably located near the drivers seat; that tube 62 is properly attached to the `intake manifold; that shade 2 `der 4; 'that piston 37 is positioned in end 4 of cylinder 4; and that suction-control-valve 3 is in the position shown in Figs. '6 and 7.

Should it then be desiredto lower the shade 2, grasp hand knob 57 of suction-controlvalve 3A and turn in` a clockwise direction 'the atmosphere gained through hole 66 in said cover 56. -When rotary cover 56 is thus turned so that end 64 ofslot 65 limits against pin 63, port 67 connects tube 62 with tube 31 and hole 68 connects tube 30 with the atmosphere. y

With the valve turned in the position just described, suction from the intake manifold will draw through tube 62, port 67, tube 31, sleeve 29, hole 26, recess 27 in bracket 21, transverse hole 48, longitudinally extending hole 44 and transverse hole 47, respectively, in shaft 7, thereby permitting the atmospheric pressure to force piston 37 towards end 4b'until it is stopped by lugs 15 of bearing 14. As the piston 37 is thus forced towards end 4b, of cylinder 4, it is caused vto rotate as by heads 50 of screws 50 operating within helical groove 12 of shaft 7. The

is rolled upon cylinrespectively,

rotary movement of piston 37, in turn, imparts rotary movement to cylinder 4, as by bead or rib 39 of said cylinder engaging.

groove 38 of said piston, thereby lowering or unrolling shade 2.

As the suction from the intake manifold vreduces the atmospheric pressure on the side struction vis that end pieces 5 and rotatably mounted upon bearings 13 and 14, respectively, are provided with beveled edges 18, which edges alternately engage beveled surfaces 19 of said journals 13 and 14,-'accprding to the direction of travel ofv pistdn 37. For eX- ample, should piston 37 be traveling towards end 4b of cylinder 4, the beveled edge 18 of end 6 will be automatically forced against ,beveled surface 19 of journal 14, thereby preventing any loss of the reduced atmospheric pressure within cylinder 4. In packing the piston 37V the inner packing recess 52 is packed iirstgwith packing material 54 inserted through opening 37 in said piston 37 and then retained therein by retaining ring 37, as shown in Figs. 1,2 and 5, and then 4the outer packing recess 53 is packed before the piston is inserted within cylinder 4.

An advantage of my invention is that any' adjustment of the shade maybe made by the operation of suction-control valve 3. rIvhat is, the shade may be partly unrolled, unrolled its full length, or rerolled as desired.

Another advantage of my inventionis that the shade cannot be operated by hand, owing to the great pitch of helical groove thread 12 in shaft 7. f i Y It will be understood that certain changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as defined in the claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: v

1. Ashade roller of they class described comprising a shaft provided in its outer periphery with a helical grooved thread, brackets for supporting said shaft, journals positionedv near the ends of said shaft, a hollow roller rotatably mounted upon said journals,

a piston on said shaft, teeth on said pistonadapted to be received byy said grooved thread wherebysaid piston is given a rotary motion when moved longitudinally upon said shaftv by suction producing means, a rib on the inner periphery ofl said hollow roller,L and a groove in` the outer periphery of said' piston tary motion of said piston is im arted to said roller, for the purposes specified).

2. A shade roller comprising a fixed shaft provided in its outer periphery with a helical grooved thread of great pitch, a pair of hollow bracketsfor supporting said shaft, journals Xedly mounted nearthe ends of said shaft, a hollow cylindrical roller rotatably mounted upon said journals, a piston on said shaft and within said cylinder, teeth on said piston adapted to fit within said 'helical grooved thread Vof said shaft whereby said piston is given a rotary motion when moved longitudinally upon said shaft by suction producing means, a rib formed on the inner periphery of said hollow roller and eX- tending longitudinally thereof, and a groove in the outer periphery of said piston adapted to'engage said ribwhereby the rotary motion of said piston is imparted to said roller, for the purposes specified.

3. A' vshade roller of the character described' comprising, incombination, a shaft having y a helical grooved thread in its outer periph! ery, a pair of hollow brackets, journals mounted on said shaft, a hollow roller mounted upon said journals, a piston mounted up'on said shaft, means on said piston adapted to engage said helical grooved thread, a rib on A the inner periphery of said hollow roller, a

groove in the outer periphery of said piston adapted to receive said rib, and a conduit connected to said hollow brackets and to suction producing means whereby lsaid piston is moved longitudinally within said roller and rotated about said shaft whiche-rotary'movement of said piston is, in turn, imparted to said roller by said rib, substantially as set #forth and for the purposes specified.

, 4. A shade roller of the character described comprising, in combination, a shaft supplied with avhelical grooved thread of great pitchl in itsvouter periphery, a pair of hollow brack-l said roller and Arotated about said shaft due i to said rib and groove, which. rotary movement of said piston is. in turn, imparted to said roller, and means for reversing the direction of travel ofsaid piston when desired,

substantially as set forth and for the purposes specified.

' ALGIE R. MITCHELL.

Aadapted to receive said rib whereby the ro 

